Once again there was friction in the city of Modi’in due to the influx of many many chareidi families during chol hamoed Pesach. This is becoming a commonplace occurrence as the Anabe Park is the area’s largest in the area and therefore, a major attraction for families from nearby Modi’in Illit on chol hamoed when they are looking for a suitable inexpensive place for the family to spend a day.
Haaretz adds that during a show in the park, a woman volunteer was selected to assist on stage – and this was already an issue with so many chareidim present. A male could easily have substituted as volunteer, or alternatively, the crowd could have let it pass and another chareidi-secular incident could have been avoided, especially since the venue is a city that is primarily secular and dati leumi, where this would not be an issue.
It is explained that the circus was not catering to the chareidim since this is not the population of the city, and local residents do not want gender separation.
The article adds “During the show, a chareidi woman approached me and asked me, very politely, if I could carry on without the girl, out of consideration for the feelings of most of the people watching,” Vitis told Haaretz. “I decided to continue the act with a male volunteer. I was trying to do my best to show sensitivity and didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
Avi Elbaz of the Free Modi’in organization however does not believe this was acceptable, explaining the performance did not take place in a chareidi community and it was not intended for chareidim so women should not be excluded. He pointed out this was not Modi’in Illit or Ramat Beit Shemesh, but Modi’in and the community should not be compelled to cater programming to outside visitors. He feels that if chareidim have a problem with women volunteers, they should simply stay away from the circus in their city.
Last year, residents of the city charged a fee to outsiders in an effort to keep the chareidim away. City officials however stated charging would be illegal. Last Sukkos they did host an event, billed for residents only, also to keep away chareidim who seem to enjoy visiting the city.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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13 Responses
The performer seems to be a mench. And if he was OK with switching to a male volunteer as a favour to his audience, why should this Elbaz character interfere? It’s not as if there is some kind of “right” to be an audience volunteer in a magic show!
It bothered this self hating Jew so much that the circus was going to make it all male performers, yet he had a problem with it?? Why doesn’t he come out and admit that he wanted to see the pritzus??
Rosha!
Headline could have been charediem upset mosdi’in resident by existing. Gadol sinas am haaretz ltalmud chochom yoser m’sinas esuv l’yakov.
unless i’m reading it wrong, I believe the volluneteer req
When you are hosted by others, sit back and follow the rules of the hosting party.
This is mamish chutzpah. The chareidim were guests. When you are a guest in someone’s “home” you follow their rules, you do not ask to be accommodated. I think the situation was handled very well and showed respect for both sides, but had they decided to continue with the female performer I don’t think we can find any fault with that.
#5, nobody was “hosting” anybody. The visiting charedim are just as Israeli as the residents of Modi’in. The performance was in a public park, which belongs to all Israelis equally. And the performer had no problem accommodating the wishes of his audience. This Elbaz is just trying to make trouble where none exists.
5. The circus personelle were willing to accommodate but this self hating Jew had issues. To bad on the self haters!
This is not the full story as was told in other sources. Other attendee’s who were enjoying the show were upset that a commotion was made and felt strongly that the female volunteer should be allowed to participate, the target audience was a more modern crowd. The comment from Avi Elbaz is simply an official statement to the press, not the audience reaction and it’s absolutely wrong to call him names. This was not a chareidi show and wasn’t advertised for a chareidi audience, it was a show that was meant to entertain the residents of Modi’in and was paid for by Modi’in therefore they get to make the rules. If a guest was unhappy with the free performance they should have left quietly and not made a ruckus. This story is not a demonstration of anti chareidi feelings, it’s about chareidi sense of entitlement.
to “by a jew” – We know that’s how most of you think. This is why haredim are universally hated. You think you’re the only “real” Jews when you’re studying torah shel besht and worshipping your rebbe
I was by Park Menachem Begin this year in Tel Aviv. It is clearly a non-religious park, but most of the visitors were frum (Black Hat). There were certainly enough non-religious people there (not dressed tznuis of course) and as far as I know not one incident or comment at all.
Modi’in Illit is not Beit Shemesh. The buses, for the most part, are mixed. The community there is mainly Litvish. I find it hard to believe that they would act similar to the RBS-b people do. I question the legitimacy of Haaretz’s story.
As a resident of Modiin whose wife and kids were at the event, I have to say that this article is very misleading. The title makes it sound like residents were upset by charedim visiting, when this is not the case. The park, in the city of Modiin, is frequented by all types of people all the time, without incident. Avi Elbaz (I’m not sure he was even at the event) is a notorious local anti-haredi trouble maker, and in the last municipal elections his party got only a few hundred votes (out of some 30,000) and did not win even one of the 17 seats on the city council.
In this particular instance, a performing magician (it was not a circus by any stretch) – who was hired by the Modi’in municipality (the park itself is government funded; performances are funded municipally) called a woman as a volunteer. The woman was wearing short sleeves and long pants; those who consider such an outfit “pritzus” would have a hard time justifying why they were in the park in the first place, as people were wearing much less, and some were even wading in a man-made lake at the park in swimming clothes.
The crowd was about half-charedi half non-charedi (a mix of religious and secular – including a local Zionist Rosh Kollel). When the woman asked the performer to call a male volunteer, and the performer acceded, there was almost a lynching – with some of the anger directed at the woman and some at the performer. After a few minutes, things quieted down (the local religious residents were instrumental in restoring calm by appealing to both sides) and the show continued – with only male volunteers.
Most residents are not averse to sharing space with charedim who visit from Modi’in Ilit – visiting the park any Friday afternoon in the summer would bear this out – but a line is crossed when people from outside the city begin to dictate the terms of how the park is to be used, especially during a performance paid for by the city of Modiin. Without assigning blame for what was clearly a lack of good communication, I understand the anger of Modiin residents.
Other inaccuracies in the article:
1) It is not the largest park in the area, though it might be the nicest large park in the area. There are several large national parks nearby (Park Canada and the Ben Shemen Forest to name a couple).
2) The article does not mention that a woman had already been called up as a volunteer when a charedi woman asked the performer to send the volunteer back and call a man.